Mike Dunlap

Deep in uncharted territory, the Cal Lutheran basketball team will meet Otterbein College of Ohio in an NCAA Division III sectional semifinal today at 4 p.m. at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. The Kingsmen (16-11) are enjoying only their fifth winning season in the program's 31 years, and for the first time they have posted back-to-back winning seasons.

The Cal State Northridge women's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Bronco Classic at Cal Poly Pomona with a 77-56 victory over Cal State Chico on Friday. Redshirt freshman center Sandi Olson scored 23 points and had eight rebounds as Northridge won its opener. Northridge will play Cal Poly Pomona for the championship at 5:30 p.m. today.

Lian Kang Lu, Cal State Northridge's new women's volleyball coach, completed his staff on Wednesday, announcing the hiring of assistants Carolyn Hueth and Maria Reyes-Sanchez. Hueth, 23, Lu's top assistant, was an assistant coach at Mira Costa High the past two seasons. She was a four-year starter at Pepperdine, a three-time team captain and the West Coast Conference player of the year in 1991.

The chants of defense, defense, began with nine minutes to play in Thursday night's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball game between Occidental and host Cal Lutheran, but the Kingsmen had received the message loud and clear about two minutes earlier. The result was a 66-55 Cal Lutheran victory that gave the Kingsmen (20-5, 12-2 in conference play) a share of their second consecutive SCIAC title and set up a playoff game against co-champion La Verne.

Occidental College and Cal Lutheran University brought out the brick and mortar and tried to add a new room to the Occidental gymnasium Saturday night. Cal Lutheran shot a miserable 28% from the field in the first half, and Occidental countered with 35% in the second half as the two teams looked like they were doing their best to rebuild the Berlin Wall. The Kingsmen finally found the range in the second half and pulled away from Occidental in the late going for a 93-76 nonconference victory.

John Calipari cautioned the Kentucky faithful that he was not the "grand poobah" or "emperor" -- even if his eight-year, $31.65-million contract as the Wildcats' new coach pays him like one. Before his introductory news conference Wednesday, Kentucky's athletics board approved the contract that will make Calipari the highest-paid coach in the nation.

Larry Reynolds, who in five years turned Cal State San Bernardino into a Division II power, will be named coach at Long Beach State today. Steve Janisch, Long Beach media relations director, said a news conference is scheduled for today at the Pyramid. Janisch did not disclose the details of the news conference but it is expected that Reynolds, 48, will be introduced as the 15th coach in 49er history. Reynolds was unavailable for comment Sunday night.

No one, including Cal Lutheran Coach Mike Dunlap could have expected it. With 1 minute 46 seconds left in Saturday night's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball playoff game between the Kingsmen and Pomona-Pitzer, Dunlap had the luxury of emptying his bench as Cal Lutheran was on its way to an 83-62 victory at Occidental College.

Two days after saying he was energized to continue as Arizona's iconic basketball coach, 74-year-old Lute Olson abruptly quit Thursday, 20 wins shy of 800 career victories. "This was not a decision that was made lightly," Olson said in a released statement. "I've had a wonderful run at the University of Arizona. I leave with a great sense of pride in what we have accomplished." Olson did not say why he was resigning.

Loyola Marymount fired men's basketball Coach Steve Aggers on Wednesday, less than a week after the Lions were eliminated in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournament. Aggers, 57, was let go after an 11-17 season that concluded Friday with a 91-79 loss to Pepperdine, his fourth losing season in five seasons as coach. Loyola finished in last place during WCC play and never finished higher than fifth in Aggers' tenure.